Changes for the Eller DNA Project

The Eller DNA project is facing a significant change. The main company with which we worked, WorldFamilies.net, has advised us they are removing from the internet all the Eller information we have been gathering, and they have been compiling, for years.

They say the data on which the site was based remains on another site, Family Tree DNA, or FTDNA. FTDNA is the largest genetic genealogy DNA testing company in the world. All our Eller testing was actually done by FTDNA but the results were compiled and displayed by WorldFamilies.net.

The change is a result of a new disclosure law passed by the European Union that sets strict new rules for how any internet service that can be seen in Europe must handle personal data. And after all, if it’s on the internet it can be seen in Europe and just about everywhere else. That law has caused WorldFamilies.net to decide to shut down the part of their site that collected and displayed our Eller DNA information.

That’s a problem. While our data is still at FTDNA, we can’t use it as readily and easily as we’ve been doing in the past. Our DNA coordinator (and the administrator of our now defunct WorldFamilies.net Eller website), Tom Eller, is working to try and save as much of the information as possible and work with FTDNA to make it available in a way that meets the new disclosure law and is still useful for EFA members.

So, in the short run, our DNA testing results aren’t readily available. But rest assured, we are working on it and hope to have it back soon.